John Lewis: "Never Knowingly Undersold."

What a load of nonsense. I've just been into John Lewis in the city centre to buy a new Kitchenaid blender. I knew that House of Fraser and Professional Cookware Co. at Meadowhall both sold them for £99.95. However, on going into John Lewis I realised they were selling them for £109. But never fear, the John Lewis price promise was displayed on the shelf - "Never Knowingly Undersold". So I took the ticket to the lady at the counter and asked her if John Lewis would be prepared to match the shops at Meadowhall. Her reply was, "I'm sorry our price matching promise only applies in the city centre." My reply: "But nobody else sells them in the city centre." To which the lady smiled (annoyingly) and replied, "I'm sorry but the price matching promise only applies within the city centre". I must have looked accepting or blank and she asked, "Would you still like to purchase it?" I looked at her funny and said, "No - why would I want to do that? £10 is a month's worth of cinema (UGC Unlimited subscriber!) or a nice bottle of wine." The sales assistant looked really put out by this (which really infuriated me!) and I again said, "I don't think you price matching policy is very sensible and as a result John Lewis will lose a very easy £100 sale. Don't worry I'll buy it from your out of town competitor."

John Lewis : "Knowingly Undersold."

Well there's Cole Brothers making up their own rules again.

The undersale policy applies to all retailers within the store's delivery area. You can obtain a one-off undersale if you have eg a discount card for another store which proves you can obtain the goods for a cheaper price. A written quote (below shelf price) from a retailer such as Curry's also attracts a one off undersale.

I'm e-mailing John Lewis. I'm sick of the treatment that Cole's dish out to customers.

Strix is quite correct - the assistant should have matched the price on the spot. In this case, they wouldn't reduce the price on the shelf-edge price ticket (because the competitors are outside the city centre), but they should match the price to any customers who ask.
John - did you get the assistant's name? (They all wear name badges now.) Some staff training required here I think!

The policy can be read online here. (http://www.johnlewis.com/jl_assets/pdf/undersold.pdf)

There are two subtle distinctions.
At the time of buying the price can be reduced there and then to match that seen in the local area.

If you buy the product and then see a comparable lower price anywhere in the UK, they will refund the difference if you make the claim.

Meadowhall does not fall in the local area and cannot be immediately checked. If you want a price match before purchase and you inform them of the Meadowhall price, they will have to check it out and call you when the match is confirmed (or not) for you to come and buy at the reduced rate.



Cunning eh?

Are there any John Lewis employees who can (having had training) give us a definitive answer?

I got my Kitchenaid mixer from Amazon.co.uk, for a good price too.

JonJ,

The last bit above (after editing) was confirmed by Sheffield customer service.

276 8511

Originally posted by cgksheff
JonJ,

The last bit above (after editing) was confirmed by Sheffield customer service.

276 8511

Sorry CGK added my post and then realised you'd edited yours. Thanks for checking by the way- John Lewis have just missed out on £100! :thumbsup:

Let me guess, Meadowhall is considered to be outside the "local" area?

Originally posted by nick2
I got my Kitchenaid mixer from Amazon.co.uk, for a good price too.

How have you found yours to be Nick? I've got one of the Kitchenaid Artisan mixers and was so impressed with it that I bought a blender too.

Originally posted by JonJParr
Are there any John Lewis employees who can (having had training) give us a definitive answer?

Yes, me. Ex-peterborough partner. The local area is usually defined as the free delivery area which is approx 30 mile radius of the store. Price checking at MH can be done by phone, or by the people JLP employ to check the prices of local competitors (I think the dapartment is called 'Merchandise')

Undersales are usually matched as a one off for customers' own circumstances. 'I visit Perth twice a month, and I can get this in McEwans department store for £5 less' should be matched in Sheffield as a one off.

I went into John Lewis not long ago to buy a printer and found theirs to be £10 cheaper than the next cheapest I could find (Maplins).
I went to Maplins, explained the situation and came out with a new printer a £1 cheaper than John Lewis' price!

That's what I call good customer service... :clap:

Originally posted by JonJParr
How have you found yours to be Nick? I've got one of the Kitchenaid Artisan mixers and was so impressed with it that I bought a blender too.

It's fantastic, like a kitchen cement mixer :)
The best thing I make in it is mashed potato, using the whisk, they come out all fluffy and wonderfull without half an hours pounding away with the masher.
I want the atachments now though, the coffee grinder and mincer etc, but they are about £90 for the set.

Originally posted by Strix
Yes, me. Ex-peterborough partner. The local area is usually defined as the free delivery area which is approx 30 mile radius of the store. Price checking at MH can be done by phone, or by the people JLP employ to check the prices of local competitors (I think the dapartment is called 'Merchandise')

Undersales are usually matched as a one off for customers' own circumstances. 'I visit Perth twice a month, and I can get this in McEwans department store for £5 less' should be matched in Sheffield as a one off.

So basically the partner involved made a costly mistake?

Originally posted by nick2
It's fantastic, like a kitchen cement mixer :)
The best thing I make in it is mashed potato, using the whisk, they come out all fluffy and wonderfull without half an hours pounding away with the masher.
I want the atachments now though, the coffee grinder and mincer etc, but they are about £90 for the set.

Ah.... so yours is an Artisan and not a Blender? I'm buying the blender mainly for soups, smoothies et al.

Originally posted by JonJParr
So basically the partner involved made a costly mistake?
Basically Cole's are a law unto themselves and I don't shop there.

I have always found their staff rude, and when they massively cocked up a large delivery when I moved back to Sheffield, they not only lied (section manager) but the General manager (Mr Roberts) was incredibly rude to me and refused to sort the problem out.

They began by trying to pull the wool over my eyes over 'losing' my TV, not realising that I had been the person who looked after the computer reservations (sample sales) in my previous life, so I knew exactly how they'd lost it. They tried to over-charge me (undersales again), and then failed to deliver the TV and dishwasher together as requested.

A quick call to despatch should have had the missing item sent out post-haste in an escort van, but I was given the 'so what' attitude. When I pointed out that this was not how I was used to the partnership going about their business I got short shrift, and revealing my ex-partner status just lit the blue touch paper.

I conducted myself in my best 'Partnership' manner throughout (though it was dificult)

A complaint to my account-holding branch (Peterborough) elicited the response 'Ah, Mr Roberts? Yes, we've had problems with him before'

Originally posted by Strix
Basically Cole's are a law unto themselves and I don't shop there.

I have always found their staff rude, and when they massively cocked up a large delivery when I moved back to Sheffield, they not only lied (section manager) but the General manager (Mr Roberts) was incredibly rude to me and refused to sort the problem out.

They began by trying to pull the wool over my eyes over 'losing' my TV, not realising that I had been the person who looked after the computer reservations (sample sales) in my previous life, so I knew exactly how they'd lost it. They tried to over-charge me (undersales again), and then failed to deliver the TV and dishwasher together as requested.

A quick call to despatch should have had the missing item sent out post-haste in an escort van, but I was given the 'so what' attitude. When I pointed out that this was not how I was used to the partnership going about their business I got short shrift, and revealing my ex-partner status just lit the blue touch paper.

I conducted myself in my best 'Partnership' manner throughout (though it was dificult)

A complaint to my account-holding branch (Peterborough) elicited the response 'Ah, Mr Roberts? Yes, we've had problems with him before'

I certainly won't be making anymore purchases from Sheffield John Lewis anymore. However, I'm not altogether fed up with the Partnership ... I absolutely adore Waitrose! Thanks again for undertaking that research Strix - it's much appreciated.

Originally posted by JonJParr
I certainly won't be making anymore purchases from Sheffield John Lewis anymore. However, I'm not altogether fed up with the Partnership ... I absolutely adore Waitrose! Thanks again for undertaking that research Strix - it's much appreciated.

I'm hoping the new store has a change of management, so I can shop there again.

(I did growl 'that's not terribly partnership' at an ex-Safeway employee who was pointedly ignoring me on the customer services desk at Waitrose. She looked shocked and put her best 'partnership' voice on when she responded with her apology. It was in the first week, and I didn't want Waitrose ending up like Cole's. I wanted her to understand that there is an expectation from customers.)


PS Am I forgiven for yesterday's mistake? :(

Originally posted by JonJParr
Ah.... so yours is an Artisan and not a Blender? I'm buying the blender mainly for soups, smoothies et al.

It's a shame there isn't a blender attachment for the mixer.

On the subject of Cole Brothers customer service, I have never had any bother with them, I have even taken computer software and hardware back and they have given me a refund even though I had opened the box, try that at PC World and see how far you get.

I do wonder if they are nicer to me once the see the account card though.

Originally posted by Strix
I'm hoping the new store has a change of management, so I can shop there again.

(I did growl 'that's not terribly partnership' at an ex-Safeway employee who was pointedly ignoring me on the customer services desk at Waitrose. She looked shocked and put her best 'partnership' voice on when she responded with her apology. It was in the first week, and I didn't want Waitrose ending up like Cole's. I wanted her to understand that there is an expectation from customers.)


PS Am I forgiven for yesterday's mistake? :(

Yes of course- forget it, I have! :smile:

Originally posted by nick2
I do wonder if they are nicer to me once the see the account card though.

I would get one but I want my BA airmiles!!!

"Mr Roberts" has retired now and the old MD's gone to Welwyn.

i tried to get an "undersale" on some baby equipment, at "Coles", a couple of years ago, for my grandchild to be...


Argos/ Index (I forget which of the two, now) had the same car seat and cot i was getting, for about 10 quid less, each, than the price that JL were asking.

I asked for the equipment, at the undersale price, and they refused, sying that they'd have to check out the price first, and that would take a few days.

I told the staff member, that their comment was ridiculous, hey could telephomn index/ argos to confirm the price, or look the thing up in any catalogue that that rival company publised and see the price, there, in black and white.

She persisted in saying hat they "couldn't possibly offer it at undersale, until it had been checked which would take a few days."

I said "Forget it, then...- you have just lost the company a good-sized sale, and jeopardised any chance of future purchases from me. Goodbye"

PT

I cant say I have ever had a bad experience at John Lewis, Sheffield. Recently I bought a tv from them, John Lewis price matched the same product being sold in their Watford store who were price matching an independant store in Watford. Sheffield knocked off £850 straight away and then delivered it to me. Happy days!

Originally posted by nick2
It's a shame there isn't a blender attachment for the mixer.
You could buy a Kenwood Chef instead maybe? More power more attachments (a blender included with certain variants) and a cheaper price for the basic ones!

I quite like going into Coles (John Lewis) but i know a few people who won't go in there because the shop assistants are too 'stuck up'.

I usually buy things and then collect them from the loading bay later when i've finished shopping because i can't really carry anything. A while ago when i got home I found that a couple of things were missing. Went back to the store and they eventually found them and they were really good about it all.

However, i can't see why they don't include Meadowhell as in their 'local area' they are both in 'Sheffield' aren't they?

After buying my Kitchenaid blender from Meadowhall (where it was £10 cheaper) and loving it so much, I went back yesterday and bought a new Artisan (to update my old one) as well. So that's £400 of business John Lewis lost out on.

I had a reply to my e-mail. I'll ask if I can show you guys.

It looks like I may be able to venture over their threshold again.

PS - it says that the undersale should have been honoured :thumbsup:
according to:
David Smith
Manager Selling Services
John Lewis Sheffield

Originally posted by JonJParr
After buying my Kitchenaid blender from Meadowhall (where it was £10 cheaper) and loving it so much, I went back yesterday and bought a new Artisan (to update my old one) as well. So that's £400 of business John Lewis lost out on.

Did you see the knife set in that shop in Medowhall reduced by £140 to £49, I got a set (too much of a bargain), very nice solid knives, I think theres about 14 knives plus a steel.

Originally posted by nick2
Did you see the knife set in that shop in Medowhall reduced by £140 to £49, I got a set (too much of a bargain), very nice solid knives, I think theres about 14 knives plus a steel.

Was that in Professional Cookware Co? That's where I got my new Artisan from! Good knives are essential when cooking- I have a block of Global knives (Japanese steel and produced in the same way as Samurai swords). Very, very, very, very sharp!

Give trading standards a call and see what they say....or just shop at Argos!!

I used to work at cole brothers in audio & tv and yes you are right, they did make up their own rules... one minute we matched internet prices, the next we did'nt... Employees get a £3 "bonus" if you spot a price cheaper, out of about 100 prices i saw they only matches 20, stating some ludicrous reasons why not....

Thats if anything is ever in stock!!

Coles have a nice little gimmick on their never knowingly undersold policy which I found out by pure chance/

About 2 years ago they were offering Braun Turbo 600 watts for £24.99 which they normally sell for £48.99 BUT it was always out of stock at £24.99.

AND I asked loads of times about it but they always said it was out of stock. Although they are supposed to ask if you'd like to place an order they never did.

SHortly afterwards they'd got it back in stock and were selling it for £48.99. I complained vociferously to the assistant who referred it to her line manager who could see if she didnt do something PDQ I wouldnt go away and the matter would go upstairs.

What a wheeze and its not the first time I've been done by staff in that electrical department which in fact is no better than their Audio & TV Dept (see

I'm Not Shopping at Cole Brothers Anymore (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61873&highlight=Cole+Brothers)) for a whole host of reasons why people arent happy with their attitude.

Originally posted by Connect4Fun
I used to work at cole brothers in audio & tv and yes you are right, they did make up their own rules... one minute we matched internet prices, the next we did'nt... Employees get a £3 "bonus" if you spot a price cheaper, out of about 100 prices i saw they only matches 20, stating some ludicrous reasons why not....

Thats if anything is ever in stock!!

That Department when run by John Smith in particular was an incredible hotch-potch of mix and match customer care to suit his whim. Certainly he had a shine for Irish ladies working for IBM who could pull the wool over his eyes without batting an eyelid.

Originally posted by foxy27
Give trading standards a call and see what they say....or just shop at Argos!!

Trading Standards, that's a joke. They sit in the pockets of the likes of John Lewis, IBM and Microsoft. The law is their to make the public think they're doing something when the plain fact is they sit on the side of corporate corruption

I suppose it's not really that surprising that when the price is halved, demand increases so they sell out of whatever stock they were holding (stock levels presumably being based on historical demand figures).
They still should have placed an order for you though...

Originally posted by northernboy
I suppose it's not really that surprising that when the price is halved, demand increases so they sell out of whatever stock they were holding (stock levels presumably being based on historical demand figures).
They still should have placed an order for you though...

You missed the point. JLP still advertised at the discounted price to make it appear they were honouring "never knowingly undersold policy" when they did not intend to sell the goods. As soon as their competitor increased the price JLP/Coles reintroduced it.

And that offer was on for some 4-6 weeks if not longer so it was clearly not a case of not being able to get the goods which were not in short supply elsewhere. It was simply JLP not wanting to sell goods at half price. If that's not a con I dont know what is. But then JLP is good at that particularly their customer services.

I've always regarded the John Lewis price promise thing as nonsense - nearly everything seems to be dearer than other places. I only go in there if I can't easily find something somewhere else; they do have a more comprehensive stock for a lot of lines.

Originally posted by wendygs
You missed the point. JLP still advertised at the discounted price to make it appear they were honouring "never knowingly undersold policy" when they did not intend to sell the goods. As soon as their competitor increased the price JLP/Coles reintroduced it.

And that offer was on for some 4-6 weeks if not longer so it was clearly not a case of not being able to get the goods which were not in short supply elsewhere. It was simply JLP not wanting to sell goods at half price. If that's not a con I dont know what is. But then JLP is good at that particularly their customer services.

Fair enough, that sounds a bit suspect I agree.
Did you ask them at the time to order one for you at the lower price?

Originally posted by northernboy
Fair enough, that sounds a bit suspect I agree.
Did you ask them at the time to order one for you at the lower price?

No because they actively discouraged me from doing so and were not at all keen in taking any orders for it at that price.

Originally posted by wendygs
No because they actively discouraged me from doing so and were not at all keen in taking any orders for it at that price.
I'm quite shocked that they could take that attitude, to be honest. Is it legal to advertise something for sale at £x.xx but have no intention of actually selling you one at that price? If they don't want to sell it, why not just take it off display?

To be honest, I don't really see the point of price-matching anyway. If shop A sells it cheaper than shop B, why not just buy it from the cheaper shop, rather than going to the hassle of trying to persuade the more expensive place to drop their price?

Originally posted by northernboy
To be honest, I don't really see the point of price-matching anyway. If shop A sells it cheaper than shop B, why not just buy it from the cheaper shop, rather than going to the hassle of trying to persuade the more expensive place to drop their price?

Normally I would agree, but Coles tend to have better (longer) guarantees and are much easier to deal with when you take something back than, say, Dixons.

Originally posted by northernboy
I'm quite shocked that they could take that attitude, to be honest. Is it legal to advertise something for sale at £x.xx but have no intention of actually selling you one at that price? If they don't want to sell it, why not just take it off display?

To be honest, I don't really see the point of price-matching anyway. If shop A sells it cheaper than shop B, why not just buy it from the cheaper shop, rather than going to the hassle of trying to persuade the more expensive place to drop their price?

In this case I think JLP staff were instructed to discourage price-matching sales for this particular item because it wouldnt have been financially viable. It didnt occur to me this was JLPs strategy until after the product went back up to the full price and I was soooooo very generously allowed to buy it at the reduced price which only happened AFTER I got really very shirty. I think they didnt want me making a fuss in a very busy section and to avoid doubt I was getting vociferous.

Personally I have found a wide range of bad practices across the scope of their services, customer services and account card services which leaves something to be desired.

Originally posted by wendygs
Personally I have found a wide range of bad practices across the scope of their services, customer services and account card services which leaves something to be desired.

Especally now HFC run their credit/account card.
You can't pay money onto your card in-store any more, you can't pay your bill in-store any more, you can't realy make any enquiries in-store any more (the account services department in-store serves no purpose that I can see).
If you don't want to pay by DD you have to take the bill to an HSBC bank (Monday to Friday only if you don't have an account with HSBC) and pay it over the counter. Very convenient.

Originally posted by nick2
Especally now HFC run their credit card. You can't pay money onto your card in-store any more, you can't pay your bill in-store any more, you can't realy make any enquiries in-store any more.
If you don't want to pay by DD you have to take the bill to an HSBC bank (Monday to Friday only if you don't have an account with HSBC) and pay it over the counter. Very convenient.

Not to mention the fact that because I'm speech impaired JLP staff have to phone up for me and there are all kinds of shenanigans with substantial discrepancies between what they say do and write. Load of lying toe-rags and I'm still waiting for them to send me copies of letters of instructions which were supposedly faxed to their HSBC side, not to mention a replacement account card which got lost/stolen. :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:

Oh and I've sent countless emails to their Customer Services Manager (Mrs Gillian) since August when I first requested full contact details with a working fax number for their card services. Despite several exchanges including her advice she doesnt know anything about the pillock Andrew Marie-Dent. So not surprisingly I asked her to provide me the details of Marie-Dent's line manager. Guess what I'm still waiting.

We are talking about my account and the effective management of my financial affairs. I think this is a very serious matter and am deeply concerned by the failure of this company to take financial matters seriously.

In the ordinary course of events I would write to their Chairman's Office but from previous dealings over the defective IBM bunkum they passed off as a computer in 1999 they seem to take the view that one should deem it a great privilege to receive a letter telling you to bog off.

Originally posted by northernboy
I'm quite shocked that they could take that attitude, to be honest. Is it legal to advertise something for sale at £x.xx but have no intention of actually selling you one at that price? If they don't want to sell it, why not just take it off display?

To be honest, I don't really see the point of price-matching anyway. If shop A sells it cheaper than shop B, why not just buy it from the cheaper shop, rather than going to the hassle of trying to persuade the more expensive place to drop their price?

yes northern boy... el-cheapo companies/ supermarkets like n*tto, l*dl and al*i do this sort of thing, all too frequently

they advertise a top-spec- computer or something for 200 quid, but when you go to the shop, at 9am the morning they are meant to go on sale, they either have only been sent the one, or not been sent at all.

the thing is, it's a con, sure, but more to the point, it's an inducement to get you into their shops.

Even the ads in a shop window, showing an alleged price of an item, are merely what's called "an Invitation To Buy", they aren't FORCED to sell you product "X" at price "Y".

PT

Wendygs, HFC are not the worlds greatest financial corporation.
I closed a loan account with them ages ago (one of those ones you get saddled with if you don't pay the full amount back (I was £5 short) in one of those "buy now, pay next year deals") then got a letter saying they had increased the credit limit, when I said the account had been closed they said they had "kept it open incase I changed my mind", they calimed to have not spoken to me about closing it and to have not seen the letter requesting them to close it.

Persevere and you will eventually get what you want from them, but they do make life difficult when you want something.

Originally posted by nick2
Especally now HFC run their credit/account card.
You can't pay money onto your card in-store any more, you can't pay your bill in-store any more, you can't realy make any enquiries in-store any more (the account services department in-store serves no purpose that I can see).
If you don't want to pay by DD you have to take the bill to an HSBC bank (Monday to Friday only if you don't have an account with HSBC) and pay it over the counter. Very convenient.

At COle Brothers they have developed a service where you can pay cash in to your account over the counter, but as far as I have been able to determine that is the only branch which offers this scheme.

Every where else they dont have the time or resources which I think is a scam to make things more difficult for customers to pay and force them in to unwanted direct debit arrangements. :loopy: :loopy: :loopy: :loopy:

Originally posted by nick2
HFC are not the worlds greatest financial corporation. I closed a loan account with them ages ago (one of those ones you get saddled with if you don't pay the full amount back (I was £5 short) in one of those "buy now, pay next year deals") then got a letter saying they had increased the credit limit, when I said the account had been closed they said they had "kept it open incase I changed my mind", they calimed to have not spoken to me about closing it and to have not seen the letter requesting them to close it.

That's a standard ploy. Send them a copy with proof of despatch and cite breaches of data security under Data Protection Act 1998.

Originally posted by wendygs
At COle Brothers they have developed a service where you can pay cash in to your account over the counter, but as far as I have been able to determine that is the only branch which offers this scheme.


They don't do it anymore, you can pay by cheque, but not cash.

When did they stop doing that because I paid my account in July over the counter by cash and why? That's a real pain because getting a cheque book is increasingly difficult and I dont like cheques anyway,

Originally posted by wendygs
When did they stop doing that because I paid my account in July over the counter by cash and why? That's a real pain because getting a cheque book is increasingly difficult and I dont like cheques anyway,

I tried to pay my bill with cash a couple of weeks ago and they said I couldn't do it anymore, the guy did appologise for the inconvenience.

Originally posted by nick2
I tried to pay my bill with cash a couple of weeks ago and they said I couldn't do it anymore, the guy did appologise for the inconvenience.

hohum what a tedious pain; I'll just have to set up a standing order then because i dont go for direct debits at all. Dont like to give away control over my account.

When I did a subject access request under the Data Protection Act he waived the £10 admin fee. I made another application 12 months later he lied that there were no changes on my account, refused to provide any inputs and pocketed the £10 fee I'd paid for this purpose.

He then wrote an extremely rude email and as a result I informed him that unless and until he apologised not to use my email account. Customer Services taff referred me back to that rude ignorant git who wouldnt write to his lawyers in the same terms that he wrote to me. I've still got the email somewhere and if someone's got a website I will very happily post it for all to see how JLPs Board Level management communicate with customers and to publish his email account :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

Originally posted by nick2
If you don't want to pay by DD you have to take the bill to an HSBC bank (Monday to Friday only if you don't have an account with HSBC) and pay it over the counter. Very convenient.

Not quite - I pay on their website using my Switch/Maestro card, never had any problems doing it this way - you can also send a cheque in the post

Originally posted by northernboy
Not quite - I pay on their website using my Switch/Maestro card, never had any problems doing it this way - you can also send a cheque in the post

Or, if you don'ty pay it they start phoning you at work and home nagging you to pay-up by switch, and you can do it then.

I realy don't see why they have removed the ability to pay the bill with cash in the shop, it's not like the people in customer services are realy busy and can't spare the time.

Originally posted by nick2
Or, if you don'ty pay it they start phoning you at work and home nagging you to pay-up by switch, and you can do it then.

I realy don't see why they have removed the ability to pay the bill with cash in the shop, it's not like the people in customer services are realy busy and can't spare the time.

I've been giving this some thought and think that it has more to do with being administratively easier for JLP/HFC/HSBC to manage their finances rather than helping to make the customer's life easier in terms of making payments.

In the meantime, I've just had a friend call JLP for me to be advised that this system is not yet in place for the old green card Options Account and only for their credit card.

By the way do you remember when they first introduced their credit card all of the staff kept on saying how much this new credit card was so much better than the Option Account. Have you been able to figure this one out yet because it's only offering some stupid marketing gimics.

I should never have swapped my option account for the credit card, I think I've only actually used it as a credit card about 3 times.

Originally posted by nick2
I should never have swapped my option account for the credit card, I think I've only actually used it as a credit card about 3 times.

Well I started smelling a rat as soon as all their sales staff kept on saying that it was better primarily because of all my bad experiences with JLP staff and the financial services industry generally.

There's definitely a catch somewhere but havent been able to figure it out unless it has something to do with cancelling the old contract and issuing a new contract under new terms and conditions.

Originally posted by wendygs
By the way do you remember when they first introduced their credit card all of the staff kept on saying how much this new credit card was so much better than the Option Account. Have you been able to figure this one out yet because it's only offering some stupid marketing gimics.

I suppose if you do a lot of shopping at JLP and want the JLP "reward" vouchers it's quite good, otherwise it's just a very average credit card, nothing special at all.

Originally posted by northernboy
I suppose if you do a lot of shopping at JLP and want the JLP "reward" vouchers it's quite good, otherwise it's just a very average credit card, nothing special at all.

That was the inducement offered to transfer from the Option to credit card account. You can bet your bottom £/$ it wasnt offered for no reason; the sweet smilie way they went about it was soooo intensive;

They even employed a Sales Marketing Consultancy firm to promote their credit card in-store and were very cagey about their option account when I asked for terms and conditions because I wanted to find out if they belonged to a trade association which incidentally wasnt published on any of their promotional info.

When I got a friend to phone up the trade association (Consumer Credit & Trade Assocation) which JLP dont belong to now, my friend was told they had lots of complaints about JLP.

Originally posted by wendygs
That was the inducement offered to transfer from the Option to credit card account. You can bet your bottom £/$ it wasnt offered for no reason; the sweet smilie way they went about it was soooo intensive;

They even employed a Sales Marketing Consultancy firm to promote their credit card in-store and were very cagey about their option account when I asked for terms and conditions because I wanted to find out if they belonged to a trade association which incidentally wasnt published on any of their promotional info.

When I got a friend to phone up the trade association (Consumer Credit & Trade Assocation) which JLP dont belong to now, my friend was told they had lots of complaints about JLP.

Oh and by the way when I asked Trading Standards for info about any trade bodies to which JLP might belong, I was politely and clealry informed they didnt have any such information on file. And who thinks Trading Standards was there to help the public. :suspect: :suspect: :suspect:

I wonder how hard it would be to go back to an option account from the credit card, I'm guessing the option account is not run by HFC bank and thats why JLP don't want people to have one, it's more work for them ?

Originally posted by nick2
I wonder how hard it would be to go back to an option account from the credit card, I'm guessing the option account is not run by HFC bank and thats why JLP don't want people to have one, it's more work for them ?

Cant see it would be any problem at all. Just tell 'em you dont like the credit card, it doesnt meet your needs and you want to transfer back to the Option account which they still offer. Naturally they'll be very disappointed and try to persuade you otherwise, but if they see you're determined that's what you want to do they'll go with what you want.

They tried forcing all of their customers to take up the credit card but I know quite a number, myself included, refused and in fact they now less openly supply details of the JLP Option A/c Card.

Although they've stated in their Annual Report they lost quite a substantial sum of interest earned from account customers, I think the truth is they didnt want to bear the risk of financing credit as well as their sales operation.

My local John Lewis have been hopless. 2 months ago I ordered some Roman blinds and curtains from their Express 7 day service. One of the pair of curtains had a flaw. I asked for a remake. It came...with a flaw. I asked for another remake...they sent the 1st set of curtains back to us. I returned them and asked for another remake. They came...with a flaw. We have decided to keep them just because we are sick of living without curtains and with all this hassle. They have refunded us £100 so that kind of covers some of the inconveniece.

We did do well on a Dyson vacuum cleaner though which we bought from there for £70 cheaper than Argos were selling them for!

its like anything nowadays, you have to shop around and ask if they will price match or better, if they dont, take your custom elsewhere.

look how many electrical shops there are in retail parks, all within easy walking distance, yet they still all sell the same items at different prices:loopy:

i have to say though, out of everything i've bought from coles, they have been cheaper than anywhere else, and have extended guarantees too.

hmmm odd i actually work for John Lewis and i dont understand what as actually gone on there, what i would of done is, charged the customer, filled out a undersale form and taken his contact details, which goes to a team, who check it out and if the price is lower, we lower it contact the customer, and put the difference onto a credit/debit card. Also at JL you do get extended waranty's and guarentees like if you buy a telly, the manufactuor will only give you a year, us at JL will give you 5 years, not many people do that, and it's free!!!
Also i think although we are very good at customer service, and you cant argue that, since John Lewis and Waitrose finished 1st and 2nd retrospectivly in a customer satisfaction survey, some coustomers think we are machines who can get everything right first time, sorry that is impossible, we try and do things with out any hasstle but there is a point where of course we are going to displease someone, thats the way the world works. We are still improving our customer service and still strive to be the best in the country, comments are very helpfull to us.

hmmm odd i actually work for John Lewis and i dont understand what as actually gone on there, what i would of done is, charged the customer, filled out a undersale form and taken his contact details, which goes to a team, who check it out and if the price is lower, we lower it contact the customer, and put the difference onto a credit/debit card. Also at JL you do get extended waranty's and guarentees like if you buy a telly, the manufactuor will only give you a year, us at JL will give you 5 years, not many people do that, and it's free!!!
Also i think although we are very good at customer service, and you cant argue that, since John Lewis and Waitrose finished 1st and 2nd retrospectivly in a customer satisfaction survey, some coustomers think we are machines who can get everything right first time, sorry that is impossible, we try and do things with out any hasstle but there is a point where of course we are going to displease someone, thats the way the world works. We are still improving our customer service and still strive to be the best in the country, comments are very helpfull to us.

Do John Lewis/Waitrose sell dictionaries?

Jim:thumbsup:

PS Welcome to the Forum

i am unsure about Waitrose, but i am sure they will. John Lewis should do on the stationary dept where all books are kept, ring your local branch and ask the call centre will tell you

Also about the partnership card, i.e the credit card. Yes it is a credit card, you are under no obligation to sign up to the partnership card it is entirely your choice, if you choose to fair enough, if not fair enough. You should not feel pressured into doing so.

i am unsure about Waitrose, but i am sure they will. John Lewis should do on the stationary dept where all books are kept, ring your local branch and ask the call centre will tell you

It was actually a cheeky dig at your spelliing

Nevermind

Jim:thumbsup:

John Lewis sponsor partners who wish to take college courses

*hint, hint*

I would hope all of the departments at John Lewis are 'stationary'. It'd be a nightmare to find your way round if they kept moving :hihi:

John Lewis: "Never Knowingly Undersold."

What a load of nonsense. I've just been into John Lewis in the city centre to buy a new Kitchenaid blender. I knew that House of Fraser and Professional Cookware Co. at Meadowhall both sold them for £99.95. However, on going into John Lewis I realised they were selling them for £109. But never fear, the John Lewis price promise was displayed on the shelf - "Never Knowingly Undersold". So I took the ticket to the lady at the counter and asked her if John Lewis would be prepared to match the shops at Meadowhall. Her reply was, "I'm sorry our price matching promise only applies in the city centre." My reply: "But nobody else sells them in the city centre." To which the lady smiled (annoyingly) and replied, "I'm sorry but the price matching promise only applies within the city centre". I must have looked accepting or blank and she asked, "Would you still like to purchase it?" I looked at her funny and said, "No - why would I want to do that? £10 is a month's worth of cinema (UGC Unlimited subscriber!) or a nice bottle of wine." The sales assistant looked really put out by this (which really infuriated me!) and I again said, "I don't think you price matching policy is very sensible and as a result John Lewis will lose a very easy £100 sale. Don't worry I'll buy it from your out of town competitor."

John Lewis : "Knowingly Undersold."

I don’t live in Sheffield so I don’t know, but having offered you the item for £109, before you refused it — which I understand from your thread was a matter of principle — did you reckon up how much it would cost you to travel to Meadowhall to buy the same item at £99.95? I would have thought — but again I don’t know — that if it was, say, a fiver to buy it in the city you could have saved a lot of aggravating travel? But I repeat, I understand it was a matter of principle, and I believe you do the right thing. I’d have probably done the same.

ah i don't care, i am rubbish at spelling anyway, thats why computers have spellcheck!

Well welcome to Sheffield Forum anyway :wave: - you're in good company here :hihi:

They even employed a Sales Marketing Consultancy firm to promote their credit card in-store and were very cagey about their option account when I asked for terms and conditions because I wanted to find out if they belonged to a trade association which incidentally wasnt published on any of their promotional info.


I'm sure you already know this wendy, but anyone offering credit cards will be regulated by the Financial Services Authority. If you have a complaint relating to a financial product that you cannot resolve with the company concerned, then you may be eligable to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. There is no charge for doing this and any decission they make is binding on the provider, but not on yourself.

ah i don't care, i am rubbish at spelling anyway, thats why computers have spellcheck!

Don’t ever rely on a computer spell-check. And for the record, your computer might have one but this site doesn’t! When using computer spell checks it’s advisable to visually check your work afterwards. In any event, if you’re bad at spelling, how would you know whether the spell-check is giving you the correct spelling or not? You see the word, you think in your mind that your own spelling is correct, so you ignore what the spell-check is telling you.

And for the record, your computer might have one but this site doesn’t!

It does, if you click "Go Advanced" instead of using the quick reply box. But I think only if you use Internet Explorer.